Bullets' Grant Sued

THE NBA

October 24, 1996

A PORTLAND, Ore., woman has filed a lawsuit against Washington Bullets forward Harvey Grant, who played for the Portland Trail Blazers the past three seasons before returning to the Bullets in a trade on July 15. The suit was filed Monday in Multnomah County (Ore.) Circuit Court. Nikii Davis, a masseuse, says that Grant exposed himself to her last November and later asked her to perform sodomy, Portland's Oregonian reported. Davis seeks $450,000 in emotional distress damages and $1,500 in damages for ''psychological and psychiatric care and counseling.''

Grant told the paper after the preseason game in Portland between the Bullets and Blazers that ''it will all be taken care of in time. I don't have any other comment.''

BARKLEY COOLS IT

HOUSTON ROCKETS forward Charles Barkley must have mellowed. How else to explain the refusal of Sir Charles to engage the Los Angeles Lakers' Cedric Ceballos in some oral jousting before the Lakers recorded their first loss of the exhibition season, a 116-114 defeat to Houston before a San Diego Sports Arena sellout of 13,481.

Roughly an hour ahead of tipoff, Barkley was reminded that Ceballos described the two teams' off-season activity as the Lakers ''putting a bunch of young guys together'' and the Rockets ''putting a bunch of old guys together.''

''We are an old team,'' Barkley said. ''I'm just surprised Cedric is smart enough to know we are old.''

It took much more than the usual amount of prodding to get an inflammatory comeback from Barkley.

''We won't take no spring break in the middle of the season,'' Barkley said finally, referring to Ceballos' unauthorized four-day leave from the Lakers last spring.